Wildlife hospital suffers serious damage after storms

Colette Derworiz, Calgary Herald08.12.2014

Two great horned owls sit in their pen, which received a new temporary wire roof after their old one was damage in the two big hailstorms last week at the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation.Crystal Schick
/ Calgary Herald

Holly Duvall, wildlife rehabilitation technician at the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, surveys the damages done to some of the animal pen roofing during the hailstorms.Crystal Schick
/ Calgary Herald

Four great horned owls sit in their pen, which received a new temporary wire roof after their old one was damage in the two big hail storms last week at the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation.Crystal Schick
/ Calgary Herald

Holly Duvall, wildlife rehabilitation technician at the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, surveys the damages done to some of the animal pen roofing during the hailstorms.Crystal Schick
/ Calgary Herald

Holly Duvall, wildlife rehabilitation technician at the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, holds a hurt seagull which was brought in after last week’s hailstorms.Crystal Schick
/ Calgary Herald

Monica Kovacs, a veterinarian who volunteers at the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, applies a brace and cast to a mallard duck with a broken leg, which it sustained during the hailstorms.Crystal Schick
/ Calgary Herald

Monica Kovacs, left, a veterinarian who volunteers at the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, and Skye Burgan, wildlife rehabilitation technician, check a seagull, which was brought in after last week’s hailstorms.Crystal Schick
/ Calgary Herald

It’s already a busy time of year for the Alberta Institute for Wildlife Conservation, but last week’s hailstorms and several major trauma cases have made it downright dramatic.

The wildlife hospital, west of Airdrie, was hammered by golf ball-size hail in two storms last week.

“It was the worst we’ve ever had here,” said Dianne Wittner, director of wildlife care with the institute.

“We got hit two nights in a row.”

The roof on a building that housed seven owls was destroyed, the nets on the waterfowl pen and mammal enclosures were shredded, and a roof on another building was full of holes.

Most of the damage was repaired by staff and volunteers immediately after the storms.

“It’s bad enough to have to deal with all of that during busy season,” said Wittner, noting there are about 150 patients a day at this time of year.

“Now we have all of the patients coming in that were hail victims. So the next two day after the hailstorms, it was gulls and hawks and owls and ducks — and all of these things that have been schmucked by hail.

“We’ve been hit with a double whammy.”

The storm also damaged cars, flattened gardens and dented siding on houses from Rocky Mountain House to Airdrie.

“The hail that came down was golf ball-sized, but it was also spiky like a mace,” said Wittner.

“I’m out there in a hard hat trying to protect the animals. Some of our staff and volunteers have bruises all over them.

“All of the vehicles that were here that night are a writeoff.”

The hospital also lost animals, including a duck killed on the second night of hail. Another suffered an injured leg. Other animals that were rescued due to blunt trauma injuries are still recovering in the wildlife hospital.

“It’s been a really challenging week,” she said, noting the institute has exhausted a lot of its resources.

On top of all of that, Wittner said they have a trauma cases unrelated to the hailstorms.

A female bobcat was hit by a car near Lac Des Arcs on Friday, sustaining a brain injury.

It’s believed she left behind some young ones because she’s lactating.

“They are looking for those kittens,” said Wittner, adding the mother’s health was unstable.

“If we can get those kittens in and she makes a recovery then they are reunited.

“If she doesn’t make a recovery, then we can raise them here until they are ready to be on their own.”

Wittner said she was hopeful the animal could be saved.

“There’s not a lot of bobcats in the world. There’s certainly not a lot of bobcats in Alberta,” she said.

“We do everything from hummingbirds to moose here so if there’s a chance that an indigenous species can be saved ... then we’re going to make that effort.”

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